The biggest surprise at the American box office this weekend was not a superhero film or a video game adaptation. It was an Elizabeth Holmes documentary. A24’s You Can See Everything, co-directed by comedian Nathan Fielder and filmmaker Lance Oppenheim, opened to about $15 million in just 855 theatres, making it the second-best opening ever for a documentary in the US.
For a nearly three-hour Elizabeth Holmes documentary, that is a remarkable result. Here is what the film is about, why audiences are queuing up for it, and what it means for Indian viewers waiting to watch it.
The Box Office Numbers
According to Deadline’s weekend box office report, Paramount’s Street Fighter took the top spot with $31 million from 3,575 theatres. You Can See Everything came second with an estimated $15 million from only 855 screens.
Some key numbers from the report:
- A per-theatre average of about $17,500
- More than 2,000 sold-out shows over the weekend
- Second only to Fahrenheit 9/11 ($23.9 million in 2004) among documentary openings
- The biggest opening for a film playing in fewer than 1,000 locations since Borat in 2006
- Around 70 percent of the audience was under 35, as reported by A24
Deadline also reported that the film was shot over four years and cost less than $10 million to make, with a marketing budget also under $10 million. A24 plans to widen the release next weekend.
For context, the same weekend saw Tom Cruise’s Digger earn an estimated $710,000 in its third weekend. You can read more about that film in our explainer on Tom Cruise’s Digger.
Who Is Elizabeth Holmes?
Elizabeth Holmes founded the blood-testing startup Theranos in 2003. She became one of Silicon Valley’s most celebrated young entrepreneurs by claiming her company could run a wide range of medical tests using only a few drops of blood from a finger prick. At its peak in 2015, Theranos was valued at around $9 billion.
The company collapsed after investigations exposed serious problems with its technology and business practices. In 2022, Holmes was convicted on four counts related to defrauding investors and was later sentenced to more than 11 years in federal prison. Her story was already told in John Carreyrou’s bestselling book Bad Blood and in the 2022 Hulu series The Dropout, starring Amanda Seyfried.
What Is the Elizabeth Holmes Documentary About?
As reported by the Los Angeles Times and Variety, the film begins 34 days before Holmes was due to report to prison in 2023. Fielder, Oppenheim and a small crew were given close access to her life at home with her partner, Billy Evans, and their young children. The couple described their approach as “radical transparency”, hoping to convince the filmmakers that the public had misunderstood her.
This Elizabeth Holmes documentary does not stay conventional for long. Fielder, known for reality-bending shows like Nathan for You, The Rehearsal and The Curse, gets pulled in front of the camera as he tries to work out whether he is seeing the truth or a performance. After Holmes goes to prison and direct access ends, the film takes several surreal turns, including reenactments that involve Amanda Seyfried herself. Fielder has asked audiences not to spoil the rest, so we will stop there.
Variety’s review lists the running time as 174 minutes, with music by Ari Balouzian and editing by Adam Locke-Norton.
A secret premiere at Telluride
The film had one of the most unusual premieres in recent memory. At the Telluride Film Festival on September 6, 2026, it played in a mystery slot that organisers kept hidden until the audience was seated. Moviegoers had to lock their phones in pouches before entering. After the screening, Emma Stone, Fielder’s co-star in The Curse, moderated the question-and-answer session.
According to the LA Times, the idea began at the Magic Castle in Los Angeles, when a magician asked the audience to name a celebrity and someone called out Elizabeth Holmes. Oppenheim later told Fielder he had heard that Holmes wanted someone to document her life.
5 Reasons the Elizabeth Holmes Documentary Became a Hit
1. A story people thought they already knew
Fielder himself told the Telluride crowd he first felt the Theranos story had been “fully told.” That familiarity actually helped. Audiences know the headlines, so the film’s promise of something new and strange is irresistible.
2. Nathan Fielder’s loyal fan base
Fielder has a devoted following, and Deadline notes his Instagram has reached 1 million followers. His deadpan style and blurred line between reality and performance are a perfect match for a subject like Holmes.
3. Smart, limited release strategy
Instead of opening wide, A24 kept the release tight and focused on big cities like New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Scarcity created buzz, with Deadline reporting that people in LA kept saying “you can’t get a ticket.”
4. Record-breaking word of mouth
Deadline reported a 4.8 average on Letterboxd, the highest ever recorded on the platform, along with very strong audience exit scores. That kind of enthusiasm spreads quickly on social media.
5. Gen Z showed up
Young audiences embraced the Elizabeth Holmes documentary. Viewers aged 18 to 34 made up a large share of the opening weekend crowd. For a long documentary, that is unusual and suggests the film works as a social event as much as a movie.
What Critics Are Saying
Early reviews have been strongly positive. Variety called it a “shameless, fascinating” look at “entitled duplicity” and stressed that the film never becomes an apology for Holmes. RogerEbert.com described it as unlike anything viewers have seen before. Deadline noted the film’s Rotten Tomatoes scores were extremely high going into the weekend.
Our editorial take: the buzz around this Elizabeth Holmes documentary is less about Theranos and more about how far modern non-fiction can stretch. It is part documentary, part reality TV and part dark comedy, and that mix is clearly connecting with young audiences.
When Can Indian Viewers Watch It?
At the time of writing, no Indian theatrical release date has been announced, and the film is not yet listed for streaming, rental or purchase in India. A24 films often reach Indian audiences later through streaming platforms or limited releases, but nothing official has been confirmed. We will update this article when a date is announced.
FAQs
What is the new Elizabeth Holmes documentary called?
The Elizabeth Holmes documentary is titled You Can See Everything, directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim and released by A24.
How much did it earn on opening weekend?
Deadline estimates about $15 million from 855 theatres, the second-best documentary opening in the US.
Does Amanda Seyfried appear in the film?
Yes. Reviews confirm that Seyfried, who played Holmes in The Dropout, appears in the second half.
The Bigger Picture
The success of You Can See Everything shows that audiences will still turn up in theatres for something original and talked about. For Hollywood, it is another win for A24’s event-style releases. For the rest of us, it is a reminder that a true story, told in a fresh way, can still pull a crowd.
